Searching (PAVAD- FBI Romantic Suspense Book 18) Read online

  Jac didn’t waver. He was trying to get her off her stride, bringing up Emery.

  “Maybe after I leave here, I’ll go find Emery. Have her give her father a message for me. Or from you. I bet you would like that, wouldn’t you? I know you love her. A good little mommy you are.”

  “I remember that day. He was angry with me for not wearing the right dress. After the party, he beat me with a belt for forty-three minutes,” Jac said as levelly as she possibly could. “I could see the clock. Could hear Nat screaming at him to stop. I counted the minutes that day. I was twelve.”

  “Seems like we all have bad memories of that day,” Nat said.

  “What are you hoping to accomplish here? Killing either one of us, or both of us, won’t even be a bleep on the colonel’s radar. If anything, he’ll just benefit from the outrage and sympathy to have both his daughters murdered by a rogue FBI agent, after losing his wife so tragically. Just make him even more popular. None of us wants that.”

  “Well, no,” Lytel said, shooting her a small smile. His hand tightened on Nat, pulling her even closer. “No one wants to make Boyd’s life better, stupid son-of-a-bitch.”

  He was six four or so. Broad.

  Nat was a full fourteen inches shorter, and one hundred sixty pounds lighter. She looked no bigger than a twelve-year-old right now.

  There was plenty of target space. Even with the bullet-resistant vest.

  But he was an experienced federal agent, with years in the special tactical forces. He’d faced down weapons before.

  Jac would have to be careful.

  She would have only one chance to do this right.

  He was studying her every move. Just as she was studying his.

  He knew they were at a stalemate.

  What he most likely didn’t know was that her phone was still on. Right there pointed straight at them. She had no doubt help was coming.

  Max had been on the other end of the line. She had just seen that before she’d sat the phone down.

  Max was coming for her.

  And all PAVAD had to do was bring up the security system she had discussed with fellow agents from the computer forensics analysis department. She and Carrie and Shannon and the rest—they knew every aspect of this system. Inside and out.

  Carrie had her security information. She’d designed the system; Carrie could log into it at any time.

  Most likely, the other woman already had.

  Cameras were probably pointed right at Eugene now. With audio.

  No matter what happened, he wasn’t getting away today. Every word they spoke would be immortalized forever.

  Jac knew what he would expect to see from her. With him having her only family at gunpoint. With her being younger and female and not as strong. As experienced.

  Weakness.

  He’d expect her to waver, to be weak. Unsure. Nervous and afraid.

  “N-nat, you j-just stay real still, ok?” She infused her tone with just that. Fear.

  It wasn’t hard to do—she was feeling all of those things.

  Her sister’s eyes were burning into her now.

  But years of training kept Jac from showing it. Until she wanted to.

  She deliberately let her hand on the gun shake. She lowered her left hand and wiped sweat off her palm.

  Lytel’s gaze followed the movement.

  He smirked.

  Jac pulled in a deep breath, so he could see.

  “Just let her go. You can leave, Eugene. I won’t stop you.”

  “Like that would happen. Don’t try to negotiate with me, Jaclyn. I’ve been rewriting the hostage negation manuals since you were preparing for the prom.”

  “I didn’t go to the prom. I couldn’t. I’d already left home by then. I graduated school early; easy to do when we’d grown up with tutors. The colonel kicked me out two days after my sixteenth birthday party when we hit stateside. Gave me a thousand dollars and told me to go—he didn’t know at the time that my mother had set up trust funds for me that provided interest starting on my sixteenth birthday. Clever of her, wasn’t it? He feared I was having too much of a rebellious influence on Nat. I was teaching her to think for herself, you see. So that he couldn’t own either of us.”

  Jac kept her eyes on his hand. His hand would be where the betrayal would be. It would show her exactly what was going on in his head.

  Maybe he thought he’d been rewriting those so-called manuals, but she had been living them, with a monster.

  And there was one lesson he had beaten into her and her sister both. Time and time again—until they had learned it.

  She and Nat had been good students back then.

  “Why did you betray PAVAD? Your friends?”

  “I have no friends, not any longer. Not in twenty-three years. I have colleagues. I have moderate success. And in a year, honey, I’m going to be shoved out the door into mandatory retirement.”

  “That’s the way it works with the bureau. We know that when we sign on. And what other job lets us retire early, except for the military and local law enforcement? I thought it sounded like a pretty decent deal. Plenty of time after fifty-seven to do things.”

  “I, like so many others, am tired of being invisible,” the man said. “Third tier under the great Ed Dennis, and under Nutless Wonder, Boyd Jones. I have always hated him. There are plenty who feel the same. And they are working together to bring that bastard down where he belongs.”

  Jac didn’t believe him.

  There were other reasons motivating Lytel.

  “You hate the colonel,” she said flatly. She needed to keep him focused entirely on her. Even with all the possible distractions. “Tell me why.”

  Kudos was barking viciously, throwing himself bodily against the patio door, desperate to reach Nat.

  That dog would die for her, die to protect her in an instant.

  Jac wasn’t about to let that be today.

  She looked into Lytel’s eyes. There was nothing there.

  Nothing. Except excitement.

  He was enjoying this. He could die at any moment, or kill at any moment. And the sick bastard was getting off on it. She’d come up against sociopaths before. This man was no different. Her gaze dropped to his weapon hand.

  “PAVAD is a family. My family. I have people there who care about me—and Nat. I’d do anything for my sister. And for my family. My friends. Especially those friends at PAVAD.”

  “Likewise,” Nat said. “Anything at all.”

  “How sweet,” Lytel said. “I know you are stalling. Who did you contact?”

  “Who do you think?” Jac wasn’t going to lie to him, unless necessary. He was trained to see right through that. But…she let her hand wobble again.

  She wanted him thinking he had her off guard. That she wasn’t fully in control.

  “The great Dr. Jones.”

  “I contacted PAVAD.”

  “Your family,” he said, smirking. “That jackass Anderson begged me not to kill him—he wanted to stay with his family. Those girls of his. Pathetic.”

  “You killed Andy.” She wanted that confession on video. Angie and the girls deserved to know one hundred percent who had killed the man they had all loved.

  “Yes. Dumb schmuck actually called me, can you believe that? Invited me to his place to talk. Thought there was a dirty agent in my department and I could help him flush the rogue out. Well, I took care of that problem.”

  Jac bit back the bile. Max had said the killer was someone Andy had known. Had trusted. Eugene fit the bill.

  “There is one lesson the colonel beat into me that I have never forgotten, Eugene,” Jac said softly. Very softly. It was time.

  “And what is that?”

  “The most important rule of family.” Her next words were for her sister, only. There was one more sentence her father had made them both repeat over and over again. The signal. “You always protect your sister.”

  The word protect was the signal for her sister to drop to
the floor. Like it always had been.

  They’d rehearsed that scenario more than they’d ever rehearsed the piano.

  Jac pulled the trigger, knowing her sister would drop as best as she could—giving Jac an even bigger target.

  It didn’t matter.

  Lytel was just so much bigger than Nat, the target was right there. Easy to see.

  Jac’s bullet hit the mark. Just like she’d learned to do as a young girl no more than thirteen. Only they weren’t using paintball bullets now.

  Eugene Lytel took the shot—right between his eyes.

  Just like Andy had.

  Lytel dropped. His hand tightened reflexively on his own weapon.

  Lytel’s shot went wide, shattering the patio door. Glass rained down around the dog snarling so viciously right there.

  Kudos whimpered and ran, disappearing into the yard.

  Nat was on the ground beneath the bastard’s body. Jac kicked the man’s gun across the floor, calling her sister’s name.

  It took Nat a moment to answer. “I’m ok. But he’s crushing me. The man weighs a ton. Especially now. Dead weight. Literally here.”

  There was a slightly hysterical undertone to her sister’s words.

  Jac grabbed Lytel’s arm and heaved, not caring about respecting the dead.

  Not now.

  She rolled him off her little sister and yanked Nat into her arms.

  “Thank God. You’re ok.”

  “I’m good. But…I told you pink carpet was just going to stain someday. You should have gone with the hard wood.”

  121

  Max and the three agents he’d commandeered, plus the director, arrived just in time to see Jac’s neighbors rushing out of their house.

  To see a blood covered Kudos streak across the front of Jaclyn’s yard.

  He yelled to Stephenson to grab the dogs. Then he was moving, weapon drawn.

  He jumped over the small hedges and ran toward the front door.

  Just as it opened.

  And there she was.

  His heart.

  There was blood on her. She had her Glock in her hand. Had her younger sister by her side.

  Nat was covered in blood.

  Already calling for her dogs.

  “Glad you’re here. We handled things. He’s inside,” Nat said. “Ruining that hideous pink carpet.”

  That was it.

  Made of steel. Jaclyn and Natalie Jones were made of steel.

  Max opened his arms, not caring about evidence or the blood covering the woman he loved.

  “I love you, Jaclyn Jones. It’s about time I said that loud enough for the world to hear.”

  She sent him a shaky smile. She came close enough to lean her head against his chest. “I don’t want to ruin that shirt. I bought it for you, and have always loved it on you, remember.”

  His fingers sank into her hair. Told her again.

  Just as Malachi Brockman came up on the porch behind them. “Hate to tell you this, but the whole world already knows how you feel about her. Have for years. Get her back to PAVAD; get her and her sister processed. Then take a vacation. I think the two of you have earned it.”

  That sounded like a good idea to Max.

  Nat returned, two woven leashes in her hand. “I need to get him to the vet. He’s got some cuts from the glass. And I think he was grazed by that forty-cal.”

  “We’ll take him back to PAVAD, Nat. Shayna can take a look at him. She has her veterinary license. We’ll take care of him there,” Max said. She would be concerned for her dogs now.

  And would break down later.

  Just like her older sister.

  Max wanted both of them were he could see them, protect them. Until they knew for certain that this was over.

  122

  She was still shaking. Jac probably would be for a while. But Nat was safe, Jac was safe—and the man who had killed Andy Anderson would never hurt anyone again. “Lytel confessed to shooting Andy.”

  “We’ll talk about it back at PAVAD. Right now…I want to get you and Nat out of those bloodstained clothes and have Jules or Mia take a look at you.”

  Nat was at her side. Karma pressed close to Jac’s leg. She couldn’t let the dog get too close—her clothes would be evidence, though she hadn’t gotten close to Lytel until after he was dead.

  When she’d pulled the man’s corpse off her baby sister.

  Jac checked Nat one more time. There were nightmares in her sister’s green eyes. “You ok?”

  “Yes. Shaken, but I’ll live. Do you think what he said about the colonel was true?”

  “Which part?” Jac asked. She hadn’t focused on his words, just on his gun and getting him where she needed.

  “All of it? Any of it? The part about me not being the colonel’s?”

  “I’m not sure. We’ll have to figure out the answer to that later.” She wanted to hug her sister, but didn’t. They were both evidence at the moment. Even though it was most likely on video, PAVAD would want the physical evidence to support what had happened here today.

  Jac was never going to live in this house again.

  She just couldn’t.

  Max had her hand in his. “Come on. Let’s go. PAVAD’s waiting.”

  Jac just looked at him. Emotion shot straight through her. “I knew you’d come for us, for me, by the way.”

  “I always will. No matter what.”

  “I know.” Jac tightened her fingers around his. “I love you, too, you know. We’ll figure out what happens next later.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that.”

  123

  Miranda was waiting at the front of the CCU bullpen, Knight hovering behind her. She wasn’t moving until her best friend was back where she belonged. Safe.

  Word had gone out that Lytel was pronounced dead at the scene. A part of Miranda knew she should have some regret for that—she’d known and worked with the man for years—but word had also spread that he had been responsible for the death of Andy Anderson.

  Miranda had heard that on the audio from Jac’s phone as well.

  Lytel was a cold-blooded killer. She was glad he wasn’t in the world any longer.

  Loud cheers went up when a small crowd of people, including the director finally entered the bullpen.

  Jac and Nat were behind them. Wearing PAVAD coveralls and their hair in matching pony-tails.

  Processing was finished, then.

  Miranda bit back a gaspy sob. She was a professional. She couldn’t fall apart just because something had happened to Jac.

  “You two are ridiculously close, aren’t you?”

  “She’s my best friend, Knight. Haven’t you ever had one of those?” She shot him an annoyed look. It was easier to be annoyed at Knight than weepy over Jac and Nat.

  “I used to. Your new friend Tag was one of them.”

  “You should build that relationship back up. Don’t lose it because you’re a stubborn cranky-pants. Or because he’s as serious as a rock.”

  “I think you’d be the last one pushing friendships considering what happened in Masterson.”

  Miranda thought to the best friends she had lost. One in particular. “Not all besties are bad. And don’t be an ass, Knight. Unless you just can’t help it. We might want to work on that going forward.”

  All thoughts of needling Knight went out of her head when Jac finally got near. Miranda pushed through the crowd.

  She had a bestie to check on now.

  Epilogue

  Ed watched his people as they surrounded the Jones sisters. Miranda Talley practically had the older sister in a neck lock, she was hugging the shorter woman so tightly. As he watched, she reached out and snagged the younger sister as well.

  Hugging her, too.

  While the two young women had been getting processed by Marianna and her people in the lab, he had reviewed the eight-minute audio of what had happened.

  He’d listened to every word. Repeatedly.

  One th
ing Lytel had said had seared itself into Ed’s brain.

  He’d rewound and listened to it multiple times.

  His hands shook at what it meant.

  Unless there had been someone else all those years ago, Ed had been lied to.

  About something he couldn’t bear to contemplate.

  He had listened to Jaclyn’s words about Colonel Boyd Jones as well. About how he had beat his stepdaughter. That abuse had been dealt out to the younger girl as well, most likely.

  They had lived in hell. He hadn’t known that. If he had, he would have done his best to stop it all those years ago. He would have protected them.

  For Felicia.

  He had loved her, too.

  Ed spoke with a few more people, including Georgia, as he kept one eye on the Jones sisters. Especially the younger.

  Finally, he slipped away to the top of the stairs, where he could look down at the open bullpen below him.

  Marianna found him there. “Eddie? You ok?”

  He was still watching Georgia. Still watching the Jones sisters. Right there, in the midst of the CCU, Max Jones hit one knee.

  Ed nodded in that direction. “Look. It’s about time.”

  Marianna’s romantic heart had her sighing. Had her fingers wrapping around his. “That’s beautiful.”

  The redheaded sister flung herself into the man’s arms as wild cheering went through the crowd.

  “I think she said yes,” Marianna said. “I remember how that felt.”

  “Best moment of my life; tied up there with the day Georgia was born, and the day the adoptions were final.”

  Jaclyn was hugging her sister. Georgia was behind Natalie now. She wasn’t much taller.

  The hair color was the same. Georgia and Natalie Jones—that rich dark brown. Ed’s had been that color, once.

  “Marianna, there is something I have to tell you. About Felicia.”

  She knew all about the murder of Felicia Jones and the case that still haunted him. Very few people even knew Ed suspected the woman had been a victim of homicide. But Marianna had seen the case files, had offered to help him find the answers.